from the tank the water overflows and runs to my laundry room and then down to the sump
my thought is that i could build a PVC (or other container not decided yet) this container would be just large enough to house media bags so that the water would have to flow through them before hitting the skimmer chamber of the sump. i would run 3 bags the top one with carbon, the next with fosban (or similar product) and the final bag would be chemi-pure. the water would exit the bottom and go into the first chamber of the sump and the skimmer would do its job before the water moved on to the rest of the sump.

I haven't posted yet, but i've been following this thread. I would scrap this idea. You have the best of intentions, but this will create a forced flow situation where water flows across media which is porous in nature. This will create biological activity increasing nitrates, and indirectly causing phosphates to rise.

will do pix when i have 5 minutes but yes the tank looks great right now... need to get the water for a change tonight.... would have been last night but my brother - in - law got us out X-mass tree!!!!!!!!!!!1 so the kids and every one been real busy setting it up and making adjustments LOL (its now 8.5 feet tall and about 5 feet around!!)

will do pix when i have 5 minutes but yes the tank looks great right now... need to get the water for a change tonight.... would have been last night but my brother - in - law got us out X-mass tree!!!!!!!!!!!1 so the kids and every one been real busy setting it up and making adjustments LOL (its now 8.5 feet tall and about 5 feet around!!)

LOL i know and i am sorry but i had to put on the superman outfit this weekend and take care of some very serious issues.... however i have changed my light pattern so that i will be putting them on when i return home from work i was way off in my calculations prior and after some argument we discovered i was not so much doing 12 on and 12 off but more like 15-17 on!!!!!!!1 (dont tell the wife i said it but she as right all along!!) so if things remain calm today i will get those pix up tonight if not we much wait another day......

I'm glad to hear that it seems like you've beaten this problem, Brett. I look forward to seeing the after picture. I have a question about what dinoflagellates look like. Is it the red/green dusting on all of the rocks in the pics you posted? http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/w...548/#post52475

If so, then I'm battling the same thing myself. My rocks are red/green and develop bubbles all over them. I thought it was the start of coraline algae at first. Boy, was I wrong. I do have a rock with a tiny bit of coraline that I'm trying to see spread. It's something like my last bastion of hope.

How long can I leave the lights off for to combat the dinoflagellates without adversely impacting the coraline algae?

I hope these related questions don't amount to a hijack of your thread. If you feel they do, you're welcome to move this post to its own thread.

I'm glad to hear that it seems like you've beaten this problem, Brett. I look forward to seeing the after picture. I have a question about what dinoflagellates look like. Is it the red/green dusting on all of the rocks in the pics you posted? http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/w...548/#post52475

If so, then I'm battling the same thing myself. My rocks are red/green and develop bubbles all over them. I thought it was the start of coraline algae at first. Boy, was I wrong. I do have a rock with a tiny bit of coraline that I'm trying to see spread. It's something like my last bastion of hope.

How long can I leave the lights off for to combat the dinoflagellates without adversely impacting the coraline algae?

I hope these related questions don't amount to a hijack of your thread. If you feel they do, you're welcome to move this post to its own thread.

take a pic a post it on a new thread or somewhere. dino's are like the pics bears posted earlier in this thread. what you may have could be red slime algae also.

so if it's red algae if it's alot scrub the excess off while syphoning the water to catch the particles rubbed off then use red slime remover by following the label and completing a water change after, then increase your water movement (this part i'm not 100% sure works but that's common knowledge as per articles i've read but personally i've had tanks with tons of water movement with red algae but i'd increase movement anyways to be sure)

If it's dinos, turn off lights for 3 days making sure tank stays dark (tank lit up in a bright room of indirect sunlight) after 3 day it should be all gone. if it's really bad you may have to do it again like in a week or so.

No matter what treatment or issue you had it will come back if you don't eliminate the source. Most likely it's the quality of the water you are using for topoff or SW changes.

To me, having a successful SW/reef tank you should start out with good quality water. Remember unlike FW tanks, SW tanks typically have strong lighting and not enough plants that will keep compete with algae to keep nutrients low. Algae LOVES strong lighting and nutrient rich water. We have minimal control of lighting if we are keeping photosynthetic corals because those animals depend on lighting to sustain life, so we MUST control the other variable. Corals that need light needs relatively little nutrient in the water to live because most depend on photosynthesis. The nonphotosynthetic corals need nutrient rich water but little light and to control algae in these tanks you use very little light (i have little experience/knowledge with these types of tanks)!

To control nutrient in a SW tank.
1. start with good quality water, feed just enough to keep animals healthy (this is where most people make mistakes by over feeding and create nutrient rich waters too)
2. Use a really good skimmer because it will remove waste before it breaks down causing havoc in your tank.
3. water change and vacuum sand when you do. I personally alternate and only vacuum half the tank at any time i'm doing water change so i dont destroy all my bacteria.
4. you can use ROWA phos remover or some type of GFO. Don't use the aluminum base as this has a negative effect on some corals over time.
5. use quality lighiting and control lighting schedule.
6. keep bioload at a reasonable level.

Admin - by all means if it is a way to help get more conversation consolidated please high jack away!! LOL i am not worried at all.. i did a three day black out and reassessed my feeding and light schedule... so far so good and again pix soon to be honest everything looks just like it did before... welllll... may be a little better to be honest my corals seem happier and my fish are more active.... man its some times the simple things that make the biggest changes....

To control nutrient in a SW tank.
3. water change and vacuum sand when you do. I personally alternate and only vacuum half the tank at any time i'm doing water change so i dont destroy all my bacteria.

We disagree on this point. No need for a debate, just let the reader understand that there are various opinions on sand depth and care. I just want to make sure we express this part of the conversation as "up for debate". Unfortunately it has been up for debate for about 15 years now... so I don't see a conclusion in the near future!